Topic of the day: Was Mitt Romney right about Russia?

Former Massachusetts Gov., and 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, waves as he takes the stage prior to speaking to at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., in this Friday, March 15, 2013 file photo.

After Mitt Romney penned an op-ed article in the Wall Street Journal criticizing the president's leadership in Ukraine, conservatives and liberals alike are debating whether or not he was right all along about Russia.

Larison cites Romney’s op-ed article as an example of how America is better off without Romney at the helm, considering that he wanted to sanction Russia far earlier and would have resulted in a crisis far more difficult to resolve, according to Larison.

“Had Romney been carrying out his preferred policy towards Russia over the last year, relations would be considerably worse, and we would be saddled with an administration that would go out of its way to clash with Russia on every issue,” writes Larison.

Trinko recalls that Obama mocked Romney’s caution over Russia in the debates last fall, but now that Russia has annexed Crimea, Romney is validated.

Quoting Romney’s op-ed article, Trinko says that Romney’s assertion that Russia isn’t the only front where Obama has failed, including Egypt and Syria on that list, is accurate and that the Obama administration has conducted a shortsighted foreign policy.

“In the course of the last presidential campaign, Mitt Romney made a comment about America's number one ‘geopolitical foe,’ which Romney claimed was Russia. He was mocked by the president and many liberal commentators,” writes Chotiner.

Chotiner then quotes excerpts from the debates where Romney made his case concerning the dangers of Russia and writes, “This all seems exactly right.”

Erik Raymond is experienced in national and international politics. He relocated from the Middle East where he was working on his second novel. He produces content for DeseretNews.com. You can reach him at:

Popular Comments

I've noticed you post almost word for word the same thing as
some other
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1:25 p.m. March 19, 2014

Top comment

Tyler D

Meridian, ID

Can anyone explain why we should care if Crimea (populated mostly by Russians)
secedes from the Ukraine (apparently by overwhelming popular vote)? Seems like
this could be a win-win for everyone including the remaining pro-western
Ukrainians (now
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Erik Raymond has spent the past several years overseas writing and reporting in Egypt, Israel and the West Bank. He is experienced in international and national politics and is a big history buff. He recently moved back more ..